It was still new, the suit. From what he heard, it was intimidating, if not a little menacing. And it was tied to the arrest of Wilson Fisk. The downfall of one of the highest profile men in Hell's Kitchen. He'd be lying if he said he didn't relish it, just a little. Putting the fear of the Devil in people.

It had been another busy night, dismantling what little remained of the Russians' operation, and he was glad to be home, ready to sleep off his headache and bruised ribs. He opened the door and froze.

Rest might have to wait.

He walked into his apartment slowly, listening to the heartbeat of whoever had broken into his place. It wasn't getting faster, so whoever it was wasn't afraid of him and probably (hopefully) wasn't going to immediately attack him. And whoever it was had on cologne that smelled expensive, enough hair gel to keep a small salon in business, and shoes that were way too clean to have walked in Hell's Kitchen for more than a block. Matt frowned. He couldn't think of any rich guys that might have a beef with him. Not any that weren't in prison, anyway. He was about to say something when the intruder spoke.

"That suit's pretty badass. Not as badass as mine of course, but a solid effort. You have pretty good taste for a blind guy."

Matt felt his frown deepen, his jaw dropping slightly before he caught it. He recognized the voice from tv.

This night just kept getting weirder.

"Tony Stark?" He was gonna say something more, confront the man, but his voice got lost in his confusion.

"And you're Matt Murdock, yes. Hi! I have a proposition for you."

He wasn't joking. Matt took a deep breath. "Can I change first?"

Stark was silent for a moment, then let out a laugh. "Don't let me stop you."

Matt hustled to his room, shutting the door behind him and getting out of the suit as quickly as he could. It was kind of cumbersome, and it didn't help that Tony Stark, Tony Stark, was sitting just a few feet away in the other room. Matt could feel him sitting in there, and for some reason it made him sweat behind the knees and hear his heartbeat twice as loud as usual. He threw on a pair of sweats and what he hoped was a gray t-shirt and went back out.

"More comfortable now?" Stark queried, and Matt smiled.

"Not as comfortable as I'll be when I know why you're here," he answered, walking to his fridge. "Wanna beer or something?"

"No, thank you."

Matt shrugged and pulled out a bottle for himself, opening it before walking over to the couch and sitting. "So?"

"I assume you're familiar with...what do you civilians call it, 'the Incident?'"

Matt snorted. "Yeah. The Battle of New York. Yeah. Yeah, those...those aliens or whatever the hell really tore this place up. Gave a lot of rich scumbags the opportunity to take advantage of people who couldn't do anything about it."

"Rich scumbags, huh?" Tony repeated, but he spoke again before Matt could apologize. "Yeah, I've known a few of those in my day. Anyway, so I assume you're familiar with the Avengers?"

Matt nodded slowly. He was getting an idea of where this was going and he desperately hoped he was wrong. "Well, I've got one of 'em sitting in my living room. So." He took a drink of his beer.

Stark leaned forward, clasping his hands in front of him. "You know what I'm about to ask, don't you?"

"Surely you guys can afford a better lawyer than me," Matt said, and Tony laughed.

"You know," he said, and Matt held his breath.

Here it comes.

"I think you would fit right in."

Matt slowly shook his head, setting his beer on the coffee table. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but I can't. I'm a lawyer. It's just me and Foggy, you know. And Karen, but she doesn't have a law degree. I can't just abandon my job. Abandon them. Besides, the criminals here keep me busy enough."

He could feel Stark staring at him. Matt was going to say something just to break the silence when Stark finally spoke; Matt was beginning to think the guy could sense when he wanted to talk and was interrupting him on purpose.

"Okay. Well, if you ever did want to work with us, it wouldn't be an eight hours, six days a week kind of gig. We would have you be kind of a...pinch hitter. Give me your phone, I'll put my number in, and if you're interested, even a little, call are bigger things going on than the small-timers here, Matthew. Very big things. What you did with Fisk was very impressive. Imagine what you could do working with us. Just think about it."

Matt dug his phone out of his pocket and handed it to Stark with some reluctance. "I'll think about it. But Mr. Stark?"

"Hm?"

"Don't be too disappointed when I don't call."

"I'll try not be," Stark said, but he said it as though he knew something Matt didn't. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. Sorry for interrupting your evening."

Matt stood at the same time as Stark, and reached out for a handshake. Stark's grip was firm and steady and Matt could feel his stare. He pretended not to notice as he led the Avenger to the door, opening it for Tony.

"I'll be seeing you, Murdock," Stark said and left.

Matt stood in the doorway for a long time.

xxx Three weeks later

Matt couldn't stop thinking about it. He tried like hell, but it was impossible to put it out of his mind. Karen and Foggy had noticed of course, so he lied and dodged questions while he tried to figure out what to do. The thoughts even plagued him when he was kicking bad guys' asses, whether it been in alleyways or courtrooms. He finally decided that its being so stuck in his head was answer enough.

He'd check it out.

But there was one person he wanted to ask first.

"You wanna go check out the Avengers? Are you shitting me? How is that even a question?"

Matt blinked in surprise. "So you're okay with it?"

Foggy let out a sound of disbelief. "Matt, it's the Avengers! Of course I'm okay with it! Aw, dude, imagine fighting side-by-side with The Hulk, and Captain America-oh, and don't even get me started on Black Widow!"

Matt snorted. "I thought you didn't like me fighting."

"I don't like you fighting dangerous criminals all by yourself and getting your ass seriously handed to you every other week. And almost dying. That's what I don't like. But if you fight with the Avengers you'll be on a team! A kick-ass team that won't let you die!" Foggy paused in thought. "Dude, you're probably gonna be the only one on the team that even can die…"

"What?" Matt cried, pulling a face. "Nuh-uh! I mean, isn't one of them, like, an archer? I bet that guy gets hurt all the time. Probably...falls out of windows and shit."

"Falls out of windows?" Foggy laughed.

"Well, I don't know!" Matt replied. He was laughing now too. "From the way Josie talked about him the guy dresses like a stripper! At least I have body armor!"

"A stripper? I mean, I guess from what I saw of him in the footage he didn't have sleeves, but that's probably so he can...I dunno, bow and arrow more easily!"

Matt cocked his head to the side. "You really think that's it? He's not just showing off his biceps?"

Foggy shrugged. "I dunno! I mean, it has to have a functional purpose, right?"

Matt felt a mischievous smile playing on his lips as he said, "I'm gonna ask him."

Foggy put a hand on Matt's knee and leaned forward. "You're gonna what?!"

"I'm gonna ask him if he was just showing off his biceps!"

"You can't ask him that!" Foggy exclaimed.

Matt sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right. Hey, when do you think I should head over there? I mean, we've got this whole Linetti case…"

Foggy clapped Matt on the shoulder. "Karen and I can handle the Linetti case. We're just doing research right now and...well, we're better at that part than you are anyway. The hearing isn't for a few weeks anyway, and we can always just call you if we need anything."

Matt turned to Foggy, a contented grin on his face. "Tomorrow it is then. Thank you, Foggy. I owe you one."

"Dude, get me some autographs and we'll be even," Foggy said. "The Avengers! Man, I can't believe this. You're gonna be an Avenger."

As Matt listened to him talk, he couldn't help but get a little excited, too.

xxx

A/N: New chapters should be up every 2-3 days! Though I may be persuaded to be quicker if you care to drop a review. ;)